Ubuntu 12.04 LTS Precise Pangolin hits the web, with HUD in tow

It's here! Precise Pangolin or, as it's officially known, Ubuntu 12.04 LTS. Canonical's latest is now available in its final(ish) form and ready for you to download, burn and install. While LTS (Long Term Support) releases are generally more conservative in their application of new features, Pangolin does include some rather notable tweaks. The most immediately noticeable will be the new log in screen which, while largely the same, does have the slick new trick of changing wall papers to match the selected user. A more subtle change is revealed once you've logged on and press alt -- HUD. The new search-based menu system is quite a departure from traditional interaction models, and one that will come as a relief to those who constantly forget where a particular option is buried. Perhaps the most welcome change, though, is the vastly improved performance and power management. Ubuntu, for all of its finer points, has never been particularly battery friendly. But Canonical is promising that is going to change. We'll have to wait to find out once we get this bad boy installed on some machines of our own. You know the drill, hit up the source link to download it for yourself, for free.

Update: Well, looks like all you Ubuntu fanatics have taken out the site temporarily. We're sure it'll be back soon but, in the meantime, you can still download the latest version of the OS here (magnet link).

Update 2: And they're back! Also, we've now got PR after the break.

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Ubuntu 12.04 LTS aims to conquer the enterprise desktop

● Aimed at the enterprise desktop, the new Ubuntu 12.04 LTS is the only operating system to combine a free, open-source platform with five years of guaranteed updates and the option of commercial support.

● Thanks to Unity, its unique GUI, plus native office apps and support for leading desktop virtualization solutions, it enables users to work more productively on the latest PCs, laptops and thin clients.

London, April 26th 2012: Canonical today launches Ubuntu 12.04 LTS for the desktop. It marks the fourth long-term support (LTS) release of the world's favourite free operating system, with maintenance updates guaranteed for five years.

Ubuntu 12.04 LTS includes support for desktop virtualisation from Citrix and VMware, alongside Microsoft RDP 7.1. This means enterprise users now have a three-way choice for office productivity: remote delivery of desktop applications, browser-based cloud solutions like Google Docs or the native, Microsoft-compatible LibreOffice suite that comes pre-installed. For organisations faced with expensive upgrades to Windows 7, Ubuntu 12.04 LTS represents a far more cost-effective alternative.

"For large enterprise deployments with long-term planning proce sses, Ubuntu 12.04 LTS is our best desktop yet," said Jane Silber, CEO of Canonical. "Thanks to our expanded hardware partnerships, we'll make regular updates to support new PCs from certified partners like Dell, HP and Lenovo. And we'll support even more companies that make the switch to Ubuntu on their desktops."

New to those upgrading from the last LTS release will be Unity, Ubuntu's unique user interface. Following many hours of user testing, it has been refined even further, to improve day-to-day productivity for novices and experts alike.

"The migration of all existing users from Ubuntu 10.04 to the Ubuntu 12.04 LTS release is something we are looking forward to rolling out and reaping the benefits of the improved ease of use and additional functionality built-in to the Unity-based desktop" - Pawel Zieba, Senior IT Innovation Consultant at Capgemini BPO.

Canonical provides optional commercial support for Ubuntu 12.04 LTS in the form of Ubuntu Advantage. The programme gives enterprise customers a choice of two levels of support, alongside access to the time-saving administration tool, Landscape, which includes audit, compliance and ongoing management features for large desktop deployments. Unlike other Linux distributions, Ubuntu customers have the choice to include their entire deployment in the support agreement, or just a subset they select.

Thanks to Canonical's close relationships with the top OEMs, Ubuntu 12.04 LTS is already certified to run on over 20 laptops and desktops, with many more to follow in the weeks to come.

Rigorous policies have been implemented to optimise key parts of the code in the last two years. As a result, Ubuntu 12.04 LTS is more robust than ever, booting even faster than its predecessor and extending laptop battery life significantly.

Canonical is the commercial sponsor of the Ubuntu project and the leading provider of support services for Ubuntu deployments in the enterprise. Ubuntu is a free, open-source platform for client, server and cloud computing. Since its launch in 2004, it has become a natural choice for users of all kinds, from Fortune 500 companies to hardware makers, content providers, software developers and individual technologists.

With developers, support staff and engineering centres all over the world, Canonical is uniquely positioned to help its partners and enterprise customers make the most of Ubuntu. It also operates Ubuntu One, a cross-platform personal cloud service for consumers. Canonical is a privately held company.